New photonic sensor inspired by the feathers of a peacock

New technology from the University of Surrey (UK) and the University of Sussex (UK) in the form of flexible photonic crystals for photonic sensors, is made up of nano-based materials and could be used in many aspects of smart sensing. The sensors are wearable and low cost and react sensitively to different stimuli – whether chemical, biological or physical – by changing color. The study, published in Advanced Functional Materials, details the manufacture of the sensors with polymer-based opals containing small amount of solution-exfoliated pristine graphene. The resulting crystal is a bright green and turns blue or transparent under certain...